Settlement Dynamics Research Articles

Abandonment, Continuity, Transformation: Setting Komana into Archaeological Context through the Middle Byzantine and Early Turkish Periods

Historical sources indicate Turks came into Anatolia starting from the middle of the 11th century. This must have had critical short- and long-term impacts on various aspects of life in the region. Based on the archaeological evidence, it can be suggested that the settlement dynamics started to change during the period of confrontation between the Byzantines and Turks as a result of the shifting political authority on a regional scale. This article will try to identify changing settlement dynamics through the 11th-13th centuries at Komana and its territory with a comparison of other contemporary settlements in the inland Black Sea region and central Anatolia. Thus, archaeological data that shed light on our understanding of abandonment, continuity and transformation are discussed and categorized as indicators.

Three decades of pastoralist settlement dynamics in the Ethiopian Omo Delta based on remote sensing data

River deltas provide important livelihoods to local populations, but at the same time are under increasing anthropogenic pressure. The opening of the Gibe III dam on the Omo River in Ethiopia in 2016 attracted international attention due to the importance of the free-flowing River for pastoralist communities in the Omo Delta. Sustainable river basin management requires spatially explicit, long-term information about human settlements to mitigate negative impacts on people’s livelihoods. Based on remote sensing time-series, and supplemented with ground-truthing, we mapped settlement-dynamics of the pastoralist Dasanech tribe. The inhabited area more than doubled from 1992 to 2009. From 2009 to 2019, settlements became more permanent and concentrated in the North of the Delta. Our results indicate that the Omo Delta has overall gained in importance as a livelihood area, but that the livelihoods of the traditionally nomadic people are shifting in the context of increasing investment in infrastructure. Management of future river flow at dams should consider the location and the trajectory of change in downstream settlements.

The Impact of Later Republican Colonisation on Coastal Settlement Dynamics in Central Adriatic Italy: the Case of Potentia

L’étude de la formation et du développement des paysages coloniaux dans l’Italie centrale adriatique contribue à une meilleure compréhension de l’impact à long terme de Rome sur les sociétés conquises dans l’ensemble de l’Italie. La première phase de la romanisation, coïncidant avec les derniers siècles de la République (du iii e au i er siècle avant J.-C.), et qui culmine lors du règne d’Auguste, est essentielle pour le déchiffrement des formes de transmission, d’assimilation et d’intégration culturelle. Cette phase est marquée par un afflux massif de colons du Latium et d’autres régions italiennes dans la région de l’Adriatique centrale et par l’introduction de modes de vie urbains inspirés de Rome et de l’Italie tyrrhénienne centrale. Mais c’est aussi dans ces trois premiers siècles de domination romaine dans la région que se développe une diversité d’agglomérations et de formes urbaines intéressantes, créées par un groupe hétérogène mêlant populations autochtones et immigrés individuels, qui ont su profondément intégrer leurs nouveaux centres d’habitation dans des territoires variés, entre les montagnes apennines et la mer. Pour illustrer cela, nous nous concentrerons sur l’évolution du paysage dans la zone de contact cruciale entre la côte et l’une des plus importantes vallées de circulation reliant Rome et le Latium à la frontière adriatique pendant cette dernière phase de la République. Sur la base d’une analyse récente des développements urbains dans l’ensemble de la région adriatique centrale, ainsi que sur des études archéologiques intensives dans la vallée de la rivière Potenza, nous pouvons commencer à reconstituer les principales caractéristiques de la colonie romaine de Potentia et son influence sur la dynamique spatiale de l’occupation humaine dans le Picenum septentrional. La création soudaine et le développement relativement rapide de ces villes coloniales romaines sur la côte, ainsi que l’afflux impressionnant de colons et vétérans, ont créé un véritable paysage colonial dynamique, avec un centre urbain hautement organisé, un suburbium bien structuré, des villages ou hameaux temporaires, et des fermes isolées, chacun remplissant son rôle dans un monde complexe en pleine évolution.

All Round: Workflow for the Identification of Neolithic Enclosure Sites of the Sopot Culture in Eastern Slavonia (Croatia)

– Several Sopot culture enclosure sites were identified.– Conclusions regarding spatial and temporal settlement dynamics were made based on the data.

On interdisciplinarity in the humanities: A comment on Fanta et al. (2020) on the bias in dating obtained from historical sources

Medieval settlement history in Europe is a common topic in several scientific disciplines. Recently, Fanta et al. (2020) examined colonization processes in Bohemia through the comparison of archaeological evidence and historical records. They concluded that the first mentions of settlements in historical documents are not reliable sources for settlement dating and should always be verified and preferably superseded by archaeological data, which are, in contrast, mostly unproblematic. We argue that this conclusion is controversial from several aspects. Firstly, it neglects the disciplinary constraints of archaeological evidence for medieval settlement development, as regards quality and chronology. Secondly, there are several legitimate perspectives from which to analyse the data. Our reanalysis of the original dataset showed that – in partial contrast to the conclusions of Fanta et al. (2020) – when viewed from the point of view of historical evidence, the time lag between the historical and archaeological dating increased with time and that the historical dating of most of the settlements between the 10th and 13th centuries was supported by archaeological evidence. Lastly, we demonstrated how research combining different disciplines (archaeology, history, palaeoecology, geography) and types evidence can reveal the manifold processes of human settlement dynamics. In our view each type of evidence has advantages as well as drawbacks, therefore strictly prioritising one at the expense of others hardly furthers the understanding of complex social phenomena.

The current state of the golden jackal population in the Lower Dnister National Nature Park

With the advent of the golden jackal in the Lower Dnister, certain changes have taken place in natural complexes, which are primarily related to the impact of the new species on the local fauna. Under such conditions, the number of jackals in certain areas, the spatial structure and location of separate packs are important information for the development of measures aimed at maintaining an optimal abundance of this species. Given the active impact of wildlife on natural systems, there are a number of both biological and purely social problems that need to be addressed. The effectiveness of solving such problems directly depends on the level of study of various aspects of biology and ecology of jackals. In addition, knowledge of the current state of the Dnister jackal population allows timely and effective response to new environmental challenges, which are associated with an increase in the abundance of new species and in its impact on the native mammal fauna. The results of the research indicate a certain competition of the jackal with other species of predatory mammals, in particular the fox and the raccoon dog. Thus, within the territories where the study was carried out, with the appearance of the jackal at the lower course of the Dnister, the red fox was not observed at all and the number of raccoon dogs decreased significantly. Habitats of separate jackal groups within the Lower Dnister National Nature Park have been identified and their total abundance has been established. The dynamics of settlement by the species of the Lower Dnister area is analysed, the conservatism of the species in relation to the residential areas is indicated. It has been established that in some parts of the park, in particular on the northern bank of the Dnister Estuary, the density of animals is about 12 individuals per 1000 hectares, which significantly exceeds the permissible sanitary and epidemiological standards. At the same time, in some parts of the floodplains of the Lower Dnister, density exceeds 0.5 individuals per 1000 ha, which indicates a complex spatial distribution of separate packs and groups of jackals. Mapping of the number of jackals in the park showed that groups far from the estuary are smaller in number (6–14 individuals), whereas groups near the estuary are more abundant (13–20 individuals).

Rivers in the making; the definition of \u201cNahr\u201d as a hybrid watercourse based on geoarchaeological evidence from Southwestern Iran

This paper explores a new perspective to study the settlement dynamics of riverine landscapes by addressing human–environment interaction in the Ancient Near East through integration of remote sensing, new geodata, and developing a definition of a new category of a watercourse. The complex and entangled network of watercourses in the archaeologically crucial region of southwestern Iran, the Greater Susiana, hinders a clear view of the spatial relations between ancient settlements and their respective environments. The watercourses are known to be of either natural (rivers) or anthropogenic (canals) origin. However, many current watercourses do not fit into either category, which causes misinterpretations of the archaeological record. This paper introduces a third category, which consists of a hybrid of the two existing categories and suggests using the term “Nahr” to address such watercourses. The author implements this idea to a case study, Nahr-e Atiq, a watercourse in north Susiana, which passes two prominent sites, Abu Fanduweh and Haft Tappeh. Based on the results of a geoarchaeological investigation(including a survey, eight sediment cores, and several soil profiles, as well as 58 known archaeological sites), several hydro-morphologic elements are presented for identifying Nahrs. These include sedimentation, morphology, and physical characteristics. The most crucial aspect is the biography of a Nahr, as these hybrid watercourses might consist of different sections with different genesis. The author argues that Nahr, as defined here, must be considered an artifact, and studied as such in the landscape archaeology of the Ancient Near East.

The territory of Hippos: Its settlement dynamics and development from the Hellenistic to the Late Roman period as seen through spatial analytical methods

In this article we present an attempt to reconstruct the agricultural, economic, and administrative territory of the city of Hippos of the Decapolis from the Hellenistic to the Late Roman periods. The aim was to test models of development of territories proposed for Greek poleis and to apply approaches relating the site catchment and central place theory to the study of territoriality of Hellenistic and Roman cities in the southern Levant. The research methodology encompasses spatial analyses of the settlement patterns, using computation of travel times, average neighbour analysis and kernel density analysis, applied to archaeological heritage data. The archaeological data and geo-spatial analyses are supplemented with historical–geographical sources and new archaeological data and are incorporated into the local and regional context.

Settlement dynamics and development of transport communications in Southern Yakutia in late the XX – early XXI centuries

This article examines the settlement dynamics in relation to the development of transport communications using the statistical, comparative geographical, and cartographic methods. A brief characteristics is given to the system of displacement of population of Southern Yakutia in the late XX – early XXI centuries. The analysis employs the materials of the population censuses of 1959, 1970, 1979, 1989, 2002, and 2010, which allows compiling the population maps that reveal the peculiarities of settlement network, their population density and structure. Spatial representation of the data is presented on the example of population displacement maps and development of transport communications in Southern Yakutia as of 1959 and 2010. Comparative analysis maps of different periods demonstrates a three-fold decrease in the number of settlements in Southern Yakutia during the intercensal period (1959–2010) due to liquidation of unpromising villages and change of nomadic lifestyle of the indigenous population to sedentary life in larger rural settlements during the period of Soviet administrative reforms of the late XX century. The emergence of new transport communications is associated with active industrial development of Southern Yakutia; however the territories were affected unevenly. It is established that spatial peculiarities of population displacement in Southern Yakutia in the late XX – early XXI centuries have remained, although the settlement areas of the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North- the Evenks – have decreased. The study of transport communications on the maps of different periods revealed the dynamics of their development in different historical periods, determining the historical roads, abandoned transport routes, emergence of new types and categories of communication lines, including the network of technological roads of industrial companies used for infrastructure maintenance.

Refugee Mobilities and Institutional Changes: Local Housing Policies and Segregation Processes in Greek Cities

Many studies have explored the dynamics of immigrant and refugee settlement at the local level, highlighting that it is actually a two-way process: On the one hand, the local socio-political context specifies the conditions for refugee inclusion, and on the other, migrant mobility leads to the transformation of localities in various ways. In Greek cities, the social practices of local actors have played an important role in the implementation of the immigration policy, where refugees were perceived as a threat to personal and community security. Yet, new forms of social mobilisation and solidarity by individual citizens and community initiatives<em> </em>have worked to alter these attitudes, mitigating tensions and obstacles in refugee acceptance. The article draws on the Greek experience to explore the role and importance of the local socio-political texture in refugee inclusion, shedding light on how it gave rise to various local initiatives that inform refugee allocation as well as urban transformation and institutional change. In methodological terms, the article considers three neighbouring Greek cities as case studies to identify the different institutional and policy responses to refugee accommodation, giving rise to different paths and forms of social inclusion. The study reveals<strong><em> </em></strong>the complexity and context of the social-spatial diversity that refugees face but also the transformation dynamics of local states and civil society.The paper draws on the Greek experience to explore the role and importance of social infrastructure in refugee integration, shedding light on how these qualities, materialized in local initiatives for refugee integration to influence urban transformation and institutional change. In methodological terms, the paper employs three small and medium-size Greek cities as case studies to identify the different institutional and policy responses to refugee accommodation followed, giving rise to different paths and forms of social inclusion and urban transformation. The study reveals<strong><em> </em></strong>the complexity and the contextuality of the social spatial diversity that refugees face but also the transformation of local states and civil society.

Russians of the neighboring countries in the post-Soviet period: geodemographic, ethno-social, sociocultural aspects

The following review article analyzes an array of scientific studies dedicated to the Russian population of the neighboring countries. This article considers the works dealing with quantitative, spatial, and settlement dynamics of Russian communities; scale and direction of migration; shifts in indicators of natural reproduction and sex-age structure. Analysis of the scientific literature shows a widespread trend of depopulation, reduction in geography, a noticeable gender imbalance and increase in the average age among Russians across the entire near abroad. But there are also significant cross-country differences in these trends. This article also identifies main directions of research on the ethno-social dynamics of the Russian population, including analysis of the problems of its ethnic self-identification and interethnic marriage, the related assimilation processes, which, depending on the country and region, could contribute to both replenishment of Russian communities, or growth of their demographic losses. The studies dedicated to sociocultural processes, to position of the Russian language and Russian culture in the post-Soviet space, show multidirectional nature of the changes. A significant reduction in the scale of Russian-language education and other spheres of sociocultural infrastructure was combined in the post-Soviet space with dominance of the Russian-speaking Internet and keeping Russian as the language of interethnic communication. The scientific literature also reveal significant differences in the strategies of the Russian people themselves, in some regions of the neighboring countries they are predominantly focused on complex socio-cultural integration, in the others — on preservation of their cultural and linguistic specifics.

The end of the Acheulo-Yabrudian and the Lower Paleolithic in the Levant: a view from the “transitional” Unit X of Tabun Cave, Israel

Even after a century of research, the nature of the transition from the Lower-to-Middle Paleolithic in the Levant remains elusive. Responding to the sharp discontinuity in material culture, Jelinek argued that Unit X of Tabun Cave, Israel, can offer the bridgehead necessary to traverse the divide. His proposal was based on (1) the unit’s stratigraphic position and on (2) the unique combination of traits it embodied. However, this interpretation of Unit X was later dismissed and the combination of features attributed to post-depositional mixture. In this paper, we revisit these arguments and analyze Layer J72S of Unit X. We address two major obstacles to our understanding of the Lower-to-Middle Paleolithic transition. The first is our poor understanding of the Acheulian facies of the Acheulo-Yabrudian and its implications for technological variation and settlement dynamics. The second obstacle is the insufficient attention to temporal trends that span the Lower and Middle Paleolithic. Our analysis demonstrates that the Acheulo-Yabrudian assemblages within the cave, including J72S, represent but a fraction of an extensive array of practices distributed across the landscape. We also document trends toward greater affinity with the Middle Paleolithic. Although of limited scope, these trends could suggest that the Lower-to-Middle Paleolithic shift is not a process of displacement but a synthesis of “old” and “new” technological concepts. An exchange of ideas and genes among not-so-distantly-related hominins may have played a much greater role in shaping the Paleolithic than has been hitherto recognized.

Quantification of the microscale dynamics of live bighead carp egg settlement in static water

AbstractThe survival of bighead carp is threatened by the construction and operation of river engineering projects. In order to guide future reservoir regulation to suitably incorporate the ecological requirements of fish, it is important to understand fish egg settlement in static water. Therefore, video capture technology and wavelet analysis in experiments were used to observe and analyze the microscale processes of live bighead carp egg settlement in static water. The study examined the temporal variations in the egg attributes and revealed microscale fluctuations in the trajectories of eggs and changes in settling velocity. The egg settling velocities were divided into both mean and fluctuating components. Both components indicated that bighead carp eggs had different settling velocities depending on the stage of development. Settling velocity is dominated by hydrodynamic drag in the first 22 min post‐fertilization, with a rapid increase in velocity through time, followed by a decrease in velocity and finally a stable value of 0.75 cm/s. The periodicity of the fluctuating component may indicate the importance of the egg inner structure or even the development of the embryo to settling velocity. This work strengthens the understanding of bighead carp egg settlement in static water and provides a clear indication to river engineers and managers of the need to promote the successful drift of bighead carp eggs in rivers to ensure the maintenance of their populations.

An Industrial Enterprise in an Agrarian Region: The Influence on the Population Dispersal and Migration System (a Case of Pudem Iron Works, the 18th-19th Centuries)

A feature of the Ural mining districts which developed in the second half of the 18th-19th centuries was that new industrial production was locally "introduced" into the existing agricultural settling system. To build a plant a new undeveloped plot was taken. The main criteria were the excess to natural resources necessary for manufacturing and transport routes. According to this principle many iron works and copper works were built in Udmurtiya. Pudem Iron Works were a case too. The main task was to evaluate the impact of the emerging innovations in economic activity on regional development. The formation of the settlement network was found in maps, written and statistical sources of the 17th-20th centuries. Historical data are used that demonstrate the initial stage of settlement, the period when Pudem Iron Works were in its prime and the years of decreasing manufacturing intensity. The use of historical maps demanded their transformation to a modern topological basis and the need to analyze the dynamics of the territory development required the construction of a geoinformation system of settlements. A comprehensive analysis provided for correlating the trends in the formation of a settlements network with migration processes. The initial formation of Udmurt agrarian settlements was influenced by external migrations. Cheptsa banks (the main river of the region) were the first to be developed. Later the banks of its tributaries were settled. After the first wave of external migrations the "oldest" settlements became the centers of internal settlement. Internal migrations occurred until the end of the 19th century. The analysis of the territory settlement dynamics has demonstrated that the creation of Pudem Iron Works (1758) practically did not affect the settling system of the region. Until the beginning of the 20th century the industrial component in the region was limited to the ironworks district and its nearest district. A characteristic feature of the 19th century is the external and internal migration of the Russian population. But at the same time the newly created settlements focused exclusively on the agricultural system of economy.

Changes in the large carnivore community structure of the Judean Desert in connection to Holocene human settlement dynamics

Investigating historical anthropogenic impacts on faunal communities is key to understanding present patterns of biodiversity and holds important implications for conservation biology. While several studies have demonstrated the human role in the extinction of large herbivores, effective methods to study human interference on large carnivores in the past are limited by the small number of carnivoran remains in the paleozoological record. Here, we integrate a systematic paleozoological survey of biogenic cave assemblages with the archaeological and paleoenvironmental records of the Judean Desert, to reveal historical changes in the large carnivore community. Our results show a late Holocene (~ 3400 years ago) faunal reassembly characterized by the diminishment of the dominant large carnivoran, the Arabian leopard (Panthera pardus sbsp. nimr), and the spread of the Syrian striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena sbsp. syriaca). We suggest that increased hunting pressure in combination with regional aridification were responsible for the decrease in the number of leopards, while the introduction of domestic animals and settlement refuse brought new scavenging opportunities for hyenas. The recent extirpation of leopards from the region has been a final note to the Holocene human impact on the ecosystem.

Is the Arctic really a frontier? Settlement dynamics within various Arctic Limits based on the Arcticapolis geohistorical database

En dépit d'un environnement extrême, d'un accès souvent très difficile et d'une population dispersée, l'Arctique fournit des ressources naturelles pour le marché mondial. Sur une superficie immense, entre écoumène et érème vivent 4 millions d'habitants. Toutefois, ce total nécessite une première clarification compte tenu de la myriade de limites de l'Arctique qui font mécaniquement varier la population boréale. Par ailleurs, le réchauffement climatique semble offrir de nouveaux potentiels de développements en arctique et sa médiatisation suscite une certaine effervescence, multipliant les références au terme de frontier, dans son acception de front pionnier. Ce concept appliqué aux hautes latitudes est ici mis à l'épreuve avec l'appui de la nouvelle base géohistorique de peuplement des pays circumpolaires, Arcticapolis dont les enjeux méthodologiques sont importants. Globalement, la population boréale diminue légèrement, quasiment dans toutes les limites proposées. Ceci s'oppose à la conceptualisation de la zone boréale comme front pionnier ce qui requiert un changement quantitatif rapide. Finalement, Arcticapolis autorise un bilan du peuplement boréal à un niveau fin. La conquête du Nord reste sujette à caution et spatialement hétérogène. Ainsi, la tendance générale à l'urbanisation n'implique pas pour autant que toutes les villes gagnent des résidents ni que tous les villages en perdent. Cette recherche met en perspective des pôles de croissance et de déclin, ainsi que des phénomènes de littoralisation. Au total, il existe une grande variété des dynamiques de peuplements des marges boréales.

Envisioning Greek Refugees as ‘Farmers for Australia’: Christy Freeleagus, Land Settlement and Immigration Restriction in White Australia

In the early 1920s the Greek Consul General in Queensland, Christy Freeleagus, attempted to persuade Australian politicians, diplomats and immigration officials to grant assisted passage and allotments of land to Greek refugees. Making representations in the United Kingdom and Australia, Freeleagus claimed that Greek refugees, who were displaced due to an imposed transfer of populations between Greece and Turkey in 1923, would make ideal agricultural settlers. While Freeleagus’ representations for a Greek land settlement scheme were ultimately unsuccessful, his advocacy reveals how Australia’s preference for British immigration overshadowed any likelihood that displaced Greeks could be humanitarianly assisted to immigrate and resettle in Australia as farmers. By focusing on Freeleagus’ advocacy and the refusal of Australian immigration officials to assist displaced Greeks, this article ties Australian history to studies on Greek-Turkish population exchange. It also reveals how the interwar dynamics of land settlement and immigration restriction in White Australia were interlinked.

Разработка информационно-поисковой системы для анализа динамики формирования сети населенных пунктов

The use of geographic information systems provides an effective solution to the goal of mapping the results of the population distribution and redistribution of the population in the region of primary development, as well as to study the dynamics of settlement by key time slices. For effective spatial analysis of the results of the distribution and redistribution of the population, it is advisable to adapt the functionality of the information retrieval system using a map server, as well as a web application that provides data processing and interaction with a database that includes geodata and attributive information. The article presents the experience of developing an information retrieval system in the form of a cartographic web application and its application to establish the territorial logic of the regional settlement system for five historical and geographical periods (from the middle of the 18th century to date). The information retrieval system provides an option of graphic selection and display of settlements on the map, taking into account the formation of the settlement system according to the historical and geographical stages, as well as an option of searching by both modern and historical names of settlements. The performance efficiency of the information retrieval system was demonstrated using the case study of one of the Northern Black Sea regions, where the interests of Poland, Turkey and Russia clashed from the middle of the 18th century; and the spatial and temporal dynamics of the settlement system reflected the change in state borders. A series of electronic maps on five historical and geographical stages of the formation of a network of settlements was obtained thanks to its import into the geodatabase of an information retrieval system and the automatic distribution of settlements by chronological intervals (up to 1794, 1795–1860, 1861–1905, 1906–1918, 1919–2020). The final stage of stabilizing the growth of the number of settlements, which determined the settlement network density of 3.7 units per 100 km2, falls during the period of 1906–1941.

Political Settlement Dynamics and the Emergence and Decline of Bureaucratic Pockets of Effectiveness in Ghana

Political Settlement Dynamics and the Emergence and Decline of Bureaucratic Pockets of Effectiveness in Ghana

The ‘new’ institutional politics of Ghana’s hydrocarbon governance

Ghana’s discovery of oil in 2007 saw a rush to production in just three years. However, regulations lagged behind and it was not until 2011 that new legislation was enacted in key areas of oil and gas governance. Central to the legislative framework was the creation of the Petroleum Commission as the new regulator of upstream activity, while the national oil company – Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) – was formally shorn of its regulatory role so that it could focus on commercial activities. This paper examines the performance of these separated institutions. Performance is always conditioned by deeper political dynamics and so we have moved beyond evaluating performance only from the perspective of the formal institutional remits. Using a political settlements lens, we argue that this separation of roles has been partially successful but that GNPC remains heavily involved in some aspects of regulation, due to its embedded power and the technical expertise it holds. The company has also become a vehicle for electoral politics in Ghana’s highly charged democratic system. At the same time, the Petroleum Commission has begun to find its feet after a few years of weak capacity but it remains heavily influenced by party political appointees and has only really been successful in putting in place critical subsidiary legislation and monitoring local content requirements. These dynamics around oil sector governance are in keeping with Ghana’s political settlement dynamics, which are competitive and clientelistic, so that key institutions become embroiled in partisan competition, producing mixed policy results.